As suicide toll grows, schools try bold prevention program

By Chris Johnston

18 June 2012 — 3:00am

TONY Sheumack runs a large school deeply entangled in south-east Melbourne's shadowy rail suicide clusters. Beaconhills College, a private school of 3000 with campuses in Berwick and Pakenham, lost three teenage boys in six months.

One was in year 12, two had recently left. This was last year. One had been in psychiatric care and his father had previously rescued him from a train lines. Another had been using the drug ice, his father says.

Brad Desmond and Bronwyn Owen.

Photo: Wayne Taylor

Most of the high schools in the densely populated corridor are on alert. Police run suicide patrols in the night. The Age has established that up to 12 young people have died on train tracks since March 2011. Eight more are known to have attempted or cheated suicide, according to welfare worker Bronwyn Owen of Windermere Child and Family Services.

Victoria has the highest rail suicide rate in Australia. Nationally, suicide is the leading cause of death for men and women under the age of 34.

Mr Sheumack has radically changed his approach and is now prepared to talk about the taboo of youth suicide. With disturbing evidence of suicide ''pacts'', he shifted his thinking.

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''In the past we have said nothing and we can't any more,'' he says. ''We are raising some very, very difficult questions and we are dabbling a little with what the answers might be. I'm not sure we know where we are going, but we have to try.''

This is where Windermere Child and Family Services comes in. Through necessity they are now working in suicide prevention and counselling. They are based in Narre Warren and two rail suicides were on the tracks near their building.

They want to take a bold prevention program called ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training), from Canada, into vulnerable schools in the region between Pakenham, Cranbourne and Narre Warren. Ms Owen and Windermere psychologist Brad Desmond are trained in ASIST's techniques. They want to train teachers to be able to talk kids out of death.

They're about to hold initial sessions at Beaconhills next month and neighbouring St Francis Xavier College today.

''It is an extremely sad situation,'' says St Francis Xavier principal Paul Desmond. ''As a community of educators we are very, very worried.'' One challenge is keeping the majority of ''healthy, happy'' students engaged in the midst of suicides.

ASIST techniques turn the accepted wisdom about prevention on its head. Ms Owen says she has used it many times. ''We talk people down off bridges and train tracks,'' she says. ''We sit in the mud with people when death is imminent.''

She says the technique is about respecting and responding to the reasons the person gives for wanting to die.

''Saying 'but you have so much to live for' doesn't work,'' she says. ''You cannot pussyfoot around. As soon as you do, you are disconnected from the person. But if you talk frankly about life and death, you are communicating. You have to let them talk about dying, then you have to tip the see-saw back to living.''

The schools were initially wary. Many still are. The notion is widespread that talking about suicide encourages it. But Mr Desmond says this is ''extraordinary'' situation demanding radical intervention. Last week he went to the funeral of a teenage girl from Berwick Secondary College who had died on the Pakenham line - the first of the suicide funerals to be held privately. Previous funerals have attracted up to 700 people, and online memorials are common.

''These are bad,'' says Ms Owen, ''because they turn into a worshipping of the courage of the dead kid and it can take over the narrative of that person's life and death.''

''Pacts'' can emerge - ''kids making promises to each other.'' She says there are strong links with a local craze of abusing over-the-counter cough syrups with alcohol and ice.

''All suicides are to do with a loss of some kind,'' says Ms Owen. ''A loss of purpose or meaning. Kids in our area are saying 'I think I want to die.' We cannot continue to say 'this is too awful to talk about.' ''

For help or information call Suicide Helpline Victoria on 1300 651 251, or Lifeline on 131 114 or visit beyondblue.org.au